ffrmttt  lay  Suite  a«iJ  fluhltt  ^euttant 

Address  by  A.  LEO.  WEIL 


Before  the  Alumni  and  Members  of  the  Washington  Literary  Society 
and  the  Faculty  and  Students  of  the  University  of  Virginia 


How  many  of  us  sailing  on  this  ship  of  state,  even 
when  we  feel  her  quiver  from  the  impact  of  stupendous 
forces,  tossing  her  first  hither,  then  thither,  consider 
whence  come  these  forces, — whither  go  they?  Yet,  to 
understand  and  determine  whether  or  not  there  is  dan- 
ger, we  must  first  know  the  causes  and  then  the  effects  of 
these  irresistible  forces. 

It  is  peculiarly  your  province,  gentlemen,  set  apart 
here,  as  you  have  been  or  now  are, — alumni  or  students 
of  this  great  seat  of  learning, — to  investigate,  ascertain, 
and,  having  learned,  to  proclaim  the  significance  of 
this  political  movement  which  is  now  shaking  from 
stem  to  stern  our  ship  of  state,  in  order  that  others 
might  benefit  from  your  knowledge.  These  forces,  for 
want  of  a better  name,  I will  call  insurgent;  insurgent, 
c^c7  however,  without  its  factional  or  party  significance; 

insurgent,  in  the  sense  of  protestation  against  existing 
d conditions,  political,  industrial  and  social.  Let  us 
enumerate,  then,  some  of  these  present  day  conditions, 
d which  the  mass  of  our  people  denounce  as  evils,  and 
d at  the  same  time  let  us  consider  their  whence,  and  their 
* £ whither. 

£ ‘ 

Our  enumeration  is,  of  course,  not  intended  to  be 
complete.  We  are  picking  out  only  a few  of  the  most 
obvious  and  most  comprehensive  of  these  alleged  evils. 


First.  There  is  a general  outcry  against  political 
corruption  and  the  control  of  political  parties  by  rings 
or  bosses  for  private  purposes  rather  than  for  public 
good. 


Second.  There  is  an  almost  equally  loud  protest 
against  the  monopoly  or  control  of  industry  by  the  few, 
at  the  cost  of  the  many,  and  thereby  the  building  up  a 
plutocracy  with  impoverishment  of  the  masses. 

Third.  It  is  maintained  that  under  existing  con- 
ditions the  individual  is  denied  reasonable  opportunity 
for  the  improvement  of  his  physical,  intellectual,  moral 
and  financial  condition;  that  he  is  constrained  in  seek- 
ing his  natural  rights  to  “life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit 
of  happiness.” 

The  evils  of  which  complaint  are  made  as  a manifes- 
tation of  our  times,  are  the  logical  sequence  of  causes, 
which  we  must  consider,  in  order  that  we  may  remove 
the  effects.  The  unrest,  the  public  discontent,  the  in- 
surgent movement,  are  evidence  that  the  people  are 
taking  an  inventory  of  their  institutions,  and  are  striv- 
ing for  something  with  which  those  conditions,  against 
which  they  protest,  are  in  conflict. 

On  the  one  side,  it  is  charged,  we  have  govern- 
ment in  the  hands  of  the  ring  and  the  boss,  controlled 
by  the  dominant  influence  of  big  business;  we  have 
industry  in  the  control  of  big  business;  and  the  indi- 
vidual, cramped  and  deprived  of  his  rights,  politically, 
industrially  and  socially.  On  the  other  side,  we  have 
a people  seeking  to  obtain  and  maintain  direct  control 
of  the  government,  and,  through  it,  of  industry  and  the 
social  condition  of  the  individual.  These  are  the  para- 
mount issues  of  our  times.  Our  country,  in  my  opin- 


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ion,  never  faced  issues  more  momentous,  on  the  de- 
termination of  which,  its  future  more  depended. 

This  insurgent  movement  is  not  yet  full  grown.  It 
is  in  the  making.  It  does  not,  perhaps,  completely  com- 
prehend or  fully  appreciate,  its  own  ultimate  aim.  It 
is  still  in  its  first  stage, — the  stage  of  negation,  rather 
than  in  its  final  stage, — the  stage  of  construction.  There 
is  unrest,  criticism,  demand  for  change,  but  have  the 
insurgents  framed  a definite  policy  when,  and  if,  the 
changes,  for  which  they  are  striving,  shall  have  come? 

It  is  doubtful  if  the  insurgents  realize  that  if  the 
masses  shall  have  once  gained  direct  control  of  the  gov- 
ernment, and  through  the  government  ownership  or  reg- 
ulation of  industry,  direct  control  of  industry, — and 
thereby  the  power  to  control  and  regulate  the  social 
status  of  the  citizen, — that  to  wisely  and  beneficently 
evercise  the  power  thus  gained,  will  require  of  the  ma- 
jority, a citizenship  of  a character  so  high,  in  fact,  of 
such  character  as  that  with  which  no  country  in  the 
world  has  yet  been  blessed.  Do  their  plans  and  pur- 
poses comprehend  the  preparation  of  such  citizenship? 
Have  they  considered  the  time  required ; the  cultivation 
of  the  public  sentiment ; the  popular  opinion,  such  gov- 
ernment presupposes?  The  hope  of  such  citizenship  in 
a majority,  exercising  their  powers  unselfishly,  in  the 
interest  of  all,  is  not  strengthened  by  our  past  political 
history. 

After  we  had  called  the  attention  of  mankind  to 
our  inalienable  rights,”  had  established  our  indepen- 
dence, and  sought  to  guarantee  that  independence  and 
those  rights  by  our  Constitution,  the  mass  of  our  citi- 
zens buried  themselves  in  their  personal  affairs,  and 
gave  little  thought  and  less  attention  to  that  govern- 


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merit  which  it  was  then  fondly  hoped,  was  the  last  word 
in  democracy.  The  political  party  was  not  contem- 
plated by  the  framers  of  our  Constitution.  No  refer- 
ence thereto  is  made  therein.  There  is  abundant  evi- 
dence that  “the  fathers”  abhorred  party,  calling  it  by 
the  opprobrious  epithet,  “faction.”  It  will  be  remem- 
bered that  Washington  selected  for  his  cabinet  both 
Hamilton  and  Jefferson,  men  of  absolutely  opposing 
views  on  national  government.  Students  of  political 
affairs  advise  us,  that  had  it  not  been  for  the  cohering 
ties  of  party,  our  form  of  government  would  not  have 
succeeded.  The  party — the  political  party — became  the 
“extra  legal  power”  of  our  government,  and  in  party, 
rather  than  in  office,  was  concentrated  and  centralized 
the  real  power.  The  great  mass  of  our  people  were 
too  much  preoccupied  conquering  the  continent,  to  de- 
vote much  time  to  politics.  They  were  pioneers,  on  the 
frontier  of  development,  reclaiming  a continent  from 
the  savage  and  from  the  wilderness.  The  party,  there- 
fore, made  the  nominations,  conducted  the  elections, 
divided  the  offices,  and  was  controlled  by  professional 
politicians.  In  the  beginning,  the  professional  poli- 
tician was  not  so  much  despised.  He  seemed  a neces- 
sary evil,  doing,  without  pay,  the  work  of  the  people. 
His  opportunities  to  serve  his  selfish  interests  were  not 
at  first  so  great,  but  gradually  the  opportunities  grew, 
keeping  pace  with  the  growth  of  wealth  and  population. 
The  party  could  bestow  all  kinds  of  perquisites,  posi- 
tions and  profits.  Between  the  railroad  magnate,  ask- 
ing government  grants,  and  the  brothel,  asking  protec- 
tion, there  was  a long  list  of  beneficiaries  of  those  in 
control  of  the  party,  and,  therefore,  in  control  of  the 
government.  The  whole  machinery  of  party,  as  has 
been  said,  from  the  local  primary  to  the  national  con- 
vention, was  beyond  the  control  of  the  voter,  and  in  the 
control  of  the  machine.  The  situation  has  been  thus 


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described  : The  state,  free  to  bestow  its  treasures  on  its 

favorites,  was  controlled  by  the  party,  the  party  was 
controlled  by  the  ring,  the  ring  by  the  boss,  and  the  boss 
by  the  trust.  I assume  that  “trust”  is  here  used  in  the 
sense  of  big  business,  and  not  in  its  usual  signification. 

In  the  years  following  1850,  the  issues  of  the  Civil 
War  which  was  to  follow,  drew  party  lines  clearly  and 
distinctly.  The  years  of  the  war,  and  after,  during  the 
period  of  reconstruction,  we  may  well  characterize  as 
the  partisan  era  of  our  government.  Party  ties  and 
party  allegiance  were  as  strong,  almost,  as  the  ties  of 
home  and  religion.  Immediately  following  the  Civil 
War  we  had  an  era  of  unexampled  urban  growth.  Cities 
sprang  up  as  industrial  accidents,  at  the  termini  of 
railroads,  at  the  development  of  mines,  and  at  the  erec- 
tion of  industrial  plants.  Never  in  the  history  of  any 
country  was  there  such  a rapid  change  of  population 
from  agricultural  to  city  dwellers.  During  this  same 
period,  science  and  invention  developed  virgin  terri- 
tories of  wealth,  pouring  into  the  lap  of  every  city 
property  of  value  sufficient  for  a king’s  ransom.  This 
development  and  invention  changed  the  character  of  the 
government  of  the  city  from  that  of  a mere  agency  of 
sovereignty,  exercising  only  sovereign  rights,  such  as 
preserving  order,  guarding  health,  and  providing  for 
the  welfare  of  the  community, — to  a great,  co-operative 
business  enterprise,  with  property  values  beyond  the 
dreams  of  avarice, — property  which  should  have  been 
conserved  for  the  city  and  its  people.  It  has  been  said 
that  the  value  of  the  rapid  transit  franchises,  without 
the  tangible  property,  in  every  city  of  the  United  States 
^exceeding  25,000  in  population,  was  greater  than  that  of 
all  the  other  public  property  of  the  city  combined.  The 
value  of  the  franchise  for  the  Third  Avenue  street  rail- 
way line  in  the  City  of  New  York,  is  greater  than  the 
whole  public  debt  of  the  City  of  New  York. 


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With  parties  controlled  as  they  were,  during  this 
era  of  partisanship  and  urban  growth,  and  creation  of 
new  and,  before  that,  unknown  values,  for  the  city,  it 
followed  inevitably  that  those  in  control  should  appro- 
priate to  themselves  these  fabulous  fortunes,  which 
could  be  transferred  from  the  municipality  to  the 
pockets  of  the  boss  upon  the  drop  of  the  gavel,  in  the 
council  chamber  of  the  city. 

Picture  to  yourselves,  our  sturdy  forebears,  con- 
quering the  wilderness, — brave,  courageous,  indomit- 
able. Give  them,  as  you  must,  the  credit  of  their  great 
achievement,  and  detract  not  one  whit  from  the  meed 
of  praise  that  is  their  due.  Nevertheless,  it  must  be 
with  a note  of  sadness  that  we  acknowledge  the  scant 
attention  they  gave  to  their  duties  as  citizens.  We  have 
today  a ravished  continent,  its  lavish  abundance  wasted, 
appropriated,  destroyed;  centers  of  population  called 
cities,  mere  aggregations  of  brick  and  stone,  with  no 
thought  of  flesh  and  bone;  industry,  unregulated  and 
monopolized;  and  political  corruption,  shameless  and 
appalling.  Even  imagination  is  powerless  to  conceive 
of  what  today  might  be  the  position  of  our  country,  and 
what  today  could  be  done  for  all  its  people,  if  there  had 
been  a prescience  which  had  ordered  the  great  natural 
resources  of  the  continent  to  be  conserved  in  the  inter- 
ests of  all  the  people,  and  if  those  enormously  valuable 
properties  belonging  to  the  city  had  been  preserved  for 
the  benefit  of  all  its  inhabitants. 

It  was  only  during  the  eighteenth  and  nineteenth 
centuries,  through  the  agency  of  steam  and  machinery, 
that  for  the  first  time  enough  was  made  to  go  around. 
Steam  and  machinery  created  a new  world  of  surplus,  in 
contrast  with  the  old  world  of  deficit.  We  here  on  this 
continent  of  lavish  superabundance,  had  the  oppor- 


6 


tunity  of  opportunities,  in  this  new  world  of  surplus. 
Yet  it  has  all  largely  passed  from  the  possession  of  the 
masses  into  the  possession  of  the  few.  While  the  wil- 
derness was  hewn  down,  and  the  city  was  built  up, 
there  sprang  up  in  the  city  a foul,  rank,  poisonous,  dis- 
ease-breeding, pestilential,  neglected  and  overgrown 
garden  of  weeds, — worse  far  than  the  wilderness  it  had 
supplanted.  This  we  now  call  the  slum  of  the  city. 
For  a long  time  it  was  neglected  and  ignored,  if  not 
practically  unobserved. 

If  the  picture  I have  drawn  is  not  prepossessing,  if 
the  arraignment  of  our  citizenship  is  severe,  if  the  con- 
ditions— political,  industrial  and  social — which  exist, 
are  undesirable,  and  to  some  extent  revolting, — never- 
theless I would  not  have  you  believe  that  I am  a pessi- 
mist, a man  without  hope.  On  the  contrary,  I have 
given  you  the  causes,  and  the  conditions  resulting,  that 
I might  now  show  the  wonderful  strides  that  have  been 
made  within  the  last  few  years. 

It  was  only  since  1880  that  we  began  to  think  and 
talk  and  write  about  political  corruption.  Not  until 
then,  aside  from  a thoughtful  few,  did  the  question  in- 
terest the  people  generally.  From  that  time,  the  ques- 
tion has  become  more  and  more  acute,  and  great  prog- 
ress has  been  made.  Public  sentiment  has  been  from 
time  to  time  aroused,  and  public  opinion  has  thrown 
itself,  on  occasions,  over  perfect  precipices  of  opposi- 
tion, and  found  its  way,  in  spite  of  legal  technicalities 
and  corrupt  political  control,  into  flowing  streams  of 
wide  and  deep  reforms.  Checked  from  time  to  time, 
nevertheless  its  successes  have  taught  public  opinion  its 
power.  It  has  begun  to  realize  that  after  all,  in  the 
last  analysis,' the  people  made  the  constitutions  and  the 
laws,  and  the  people  can  take  away  the  constitutions 


7 


and  the  laws.  We  have  learned  that  in  this  government 
of  ours,  the  final  strategic  position  is  public  opinion, 
and  the  contest  is  on,  between  the  opposing  forces,  as 
to  which  shall  obtain  on  its  side,  the  overwhelming 
weight  of  this  public  opinion. 

Keform  after  reform,  and  improvement  after  im- 
provement, have  been  made  by  this  power  of  public  opin- 
ion, in  politics,  in  industry,  and  in  the  social  status  of 
the  citizen.  So  many  and  so  fast  have  been  these 
changes  for  the  better,  that  it  is  manifest  to  the  thought- 
ful observer  that  there  is  no  limit  to  what  can  be  accom- 
plished, provided  always  that  this  public  opinion  is 
directed  to  wise  and  conservative  aims.  An  enumera 
tion  of  reforms,  however  complete,  would  serve  no  useful 
purpose  to  this  audience.  Every  man  within  the  hear- 
ing of  my  voice,  do  doubt,  instantly  recalls  to  mind 
many  which  he  himself  has  observed. 

In  addition  to  the  reforms  which  have  been  car- 
ried out,  never  before,  in  the  history  of  the  world, 
have  the  people  been  so  intent  upon  the  consideration 
of  social  conditions,  and  the  methods  by  which  the 
same  can  be  improved.  There  are  societies  and  organ- 
izations, city,  state  and  national,  in  which  sincere  and 
public-spirited  men  and  women  are  devoting  their  time 
and  money  to  the  interests  of  mankind.  We  are  even 
courageously  attacking  problems  which  heretofore 
every  nation  of  the  world  has  shunned.  The  social 
evil — so-called — has  been  a burning  question  since  the 
earliest  dawn  of  history.  We  are  informed  that  due 
to  its  baleful  effects,  nations  have  perished,  and  peoples 
have  become  extinct,  and  yet,  no  nation  in  the  world, 
no  people,  no  country,  no  city,  has  ever  undertaken 
by  authority  from  the  state,  to  prescribe  the  laws,  rules 
and  regulations  by  which  this  evil  shall  be  temporarily 


8 


controlled,  or  ultimately  eliminated.  This  is  true  to- 
day, as  it  has  been  in  the  past.  Even  despotic  Russia, 
imperial  Germany,  daring  France,  have  unloaded  the 
determination  of  this  question  upon  the  police  of  the 
various  cities, — a body  selected  to  administer,  not  to 
make,  law.  The  wisest  of  statesmen,  for  some  reason 
unwilling  to  grapple  with  this  question,  have  dodged 
it.  True  it  is  that  we  have  certain  prohibitions,  certain 
acts  denominated  as  crimes,  but  they  have  been  passed 
and  remain  upon  the  statute  books  with  the  under- 
standing that  they  are  to  be  ignored,  and  they  are 
ignored  in  practically  every  city  in  the  United  States, 
as  well  as  in  every  city  of  the  world. 

The  police  are  a body  of  men  selected  not  with 
reference  to  their  capacity  to  frame  enactments,  but 
because  of  their  supposed  qualifications  to  enforce 
them.  No  man  would  permit  the  police  of  any  city  in 
which  he  lived  to  prescribe  the  rules  and  regulations 
and  code  by  which  the  conduct  of  his  wife,  his  daugh- 
ters, his  sons,  and  his  family,  were  to  be  governed,  and 
yet  heretofore  every  man  in  every  city  has  tolerated 
just  this  condition,  because  the  city  is  but  the  aggregate 
of  the  families  of  all  the  citizens. 

The  attitude  of  every  city,  state  and  nation  of  the 
world  upon  this  subject  has  been  cowardly,  and  it  is 
to  the  credit  of  us  here  in  this  country,  that  at  last 
the  question  has  been  taken  up  in  an  authoritative  way, 
looking  towards  ultimate  solution. 

There  has  been  recently  introduced  in  the  legis- 
lature of  New  York,  a bill  to  provide  for  a Morals  Com- 
mission for  the  city  of  New  York,  which  shall  have 
power  to  deal  with  this  question  of  the  social  evil  and 
public  gambling,  and  shall  have  at  its  disposal  a force 


9 


of  2,000  men.  This  will  take  from  the  police  the  con- 
trol over  the  saloon,  the  brothel  and  the  gambling 
house.  This  will  remove  from  the  police  and  from  muni- 
cipal politics  the  most  fruitful  source  of  graft  and  cor- 
ruption, and  will  deprive  the  boss  and  the  ring  of  much 
of  their  power,  influence  and  revenue.  It  will  ac- 
complish, perhaps,  above  all  else,  this : — for  the  first 
time  in  the  history  of  the  world  there  will  be  obtainable 
statistical  information  and  data,  accurate  and  reliable, 
to  be  preserved  and  studied. 

I might  say,  in  passing,  that  it  is  not  at  all  improb- 
able that  this  Morals  Commission,  though  it  should  be 
composed  of  the  best  and  the  wisest  in  the  community, 
will  possibly  find  itself  compelled  to  change  its  precon- 
ceived policy,  as  experience  demonstrates  the  error  of 
its  views.  It  is  a new  field  of  experiment,  to  be 
worked  out  upon  new  lines  of  eugenics.  It  is,  however, 
one  of  those  problems  of  civilization  that  must  be  solved 
if  there  is  to  be  civilization.  It  is  to  the  credit  of  de- 
mocracy that  we  have  undertaken  the  solution  of  this 
question,  which,  during  the  centuries,  all  other  govern- 
ments have  dodged. 

In  this  contest  now  waging,  the  spirit  which  ani- 
mates the  insurgent  is  the  social  spirit.  Its  ideal  is 
the  appropriation  of  the  property  of  all  for  the  good  of 
all.  The  insurgent  is  directing  his  energies  in  several 
directions — all  converging,  however,  to  the  same  final 
goal;  first,  the  direct  control  of  government;  secondly, 
the  regulation  of  industry  in  the  interest  of  the  masses ; 
and,  lastly,  the  betterment  of  the  social  condition  of  the 
individual  citizen.  The  unrest,  protestation,  demand, 
insurgency,  are  all  due  to  the  fact  that  these  purposes 
of  the  people  are  opposed  by  the  political,  industrial 
and  social  conditions  which  now  exist. 


10 


That  ultimately  this  movement  of  the  people,  if 
persisted  in,  must  win,  even  if  opposed  by  constitutions, 
laws,  the  reverence  for  past  ideals,  and  all  other  re- 
straining’ forces  and  influences,  whether  political,  indus- 
trial or  social,  must  be  apparent  from  the  present  trend 
and  progress  along  these  very  lines,  and  from  a recog- 
nition of  the  potentiality  of  an  overwhelming  public 
sentiment. 

Should  the  Federal  Constitution  stand  in  the  way 
of  this  movement,  let  us  see  what  might  happen,  aside 
from  its  amendment  in  the  manner  provided  by  law. 
The  Constitution  provides  : “Congress  shall  have  power 

to  lay  and  collect  taxes,  duties,  imposts  and  excises,  to 
pay  the  debts  and  provide  for  the  common  defence  and 
general  welfare  of  the  United  States.”  By  construc- 
tion this  clause  has  been  interpreted  as  granting  to  Con- 
gress power  to  tax  in  order  to  pay  the  debts  and  pro- 
vide for  the  common  defence  and  general  welfare.  It 
would  not  be  such  a strained  construction — and  one  for 
which  many  lawyers  have  heretofore  contended — that 
this  clause  gave  to  Congress  the  power  to  provide  for 
the  common  defence  and  general  welfare  of  the  United 
States,  as  well  as  to  lay  taxes  for  that  purpose.  If  this 
construction  were  once  made,  perhaps  made  because 
demanded  by  an  overwhelming  public  sentiment,  there 
would  be  practically  no  limit  to  the  power  of  the  Fed- 
eral Government. 

The  progress  that  has  been  made  in  the  direct  con- 
trol of  government  by  the  people  is  evidenced  in  various 
ways.  The  direct  primaries  enable  the  people  to  make 
v the  nominations.  The  various  acts  regulating  elections, 
registration,  &c.,  help  to  take  the  control  of  elections 
from  the  ring.  The  laws  providing  for  a direct  vote 
for  United  States  senators,  the  initiative,  referendum 


11 


and  recall,  already  adopted  in  some  states,  and  their 
adoption  demanded  in  most  if  not  all  the  states,  show 
the  direction  of  the  movement.  In  other  words,  the  peo- 
ple are  obtaining  direct  control  of  public  nominations, 
the  supervision  of  elections,  the  control  of  the  repre- 
sentative after  election,  the  power  to  initiate  legisla- 
tion. No  student  of  politics  can  fail  to  see  that  during 
the  last  few  years  there  have  been  made  wonderful 
strides  in  wresting  from  the  control  of  the  political 
machine,  the  nomination,  election  and  control  after  elec- 
tion, of  public  officials,  and  that  control  has  been  trans- 
ferred to  the  voter,  as  well  as  power  over  legislation 
itself. 

Control  of  industry,  let  it  be  remembered,  is  sought 
either  by  governmental  ownership  or  governmental  reg- 
ulation. “What  the  people  demand  is  the  largest  pos- 
sible industrial  control,  together  with  the  largest  pos- 
sible industrial  dividend.”  There  are  abundant  evi- 
dences of  progress  along  these  lines.  The  government 
has  gone  into  business  in  many  ways;  into  banking 
through  the  post  office;  into  raising  and  selling  timber 
through  the  Forestry  Department;  into  almost  all  lines 
in  building  the  Panama  Canal;  and  it  threatens  to  go 
into  the  express  business.  The  states  and  cities  of  the 
Union  have  been  following  the  Federal  Government’s 
example  in  many  ways.  But  while  progress  in  govern- 
ment ownership  has  not  been  so  rapid,  there  is  an  ava- 
lanche of  proof  of  progress  in  governmental  regulation 
of  industry.  The  Interstate  Commerce  Commission, 
fixing  and  regulating  railroad  rates,  &c.,  stands  conspic- 
uous as  a regulation.  The  corporation  tax  law,  the  Bu- 
reau of  Commerce  and  Labor,  the  factory  inspection 
and  labor  laws,  pure  food  laws,  minimum  wage  laws, 
employers’  liability  laws,  &e.,  &e.,  all  attest  how  fast 
we  are  going  in  the  direction  of  regulation  of  industry 


12 


by  government.  In  fact,  the  kings  and  princes  of  indus- 
try are  not  infrequently  heard  to  complain  that  law  has 
already  taken  out  of  their  hands  the  operation  of  their 
plants. 

The  progress  heretofore  made  in  improving  the  so- 
cial condition  of  the  individual  citizen  is  equally,  if  not 
even  more,  manifest  than  is  the  progress  made  towards 
securing  direct  control  of  government  and  the  control 
and  regulation  of  industry.  The  goal  here  sought  to 
be  attained  by  the  insurgent  is  to  improve  the  physical, 
intellectual  and  moral  condition  of  the  individual. 

It  is  impossible,  within  the  limits  of  this  address, 
to  even  briefly  summarize  what  has  been  done  in  this 
direction  during  the  last  few  years.  Consider  the  new 
hospitals  and  dispensaries,  the  introduction  of  doctors 
and  nurses  into  the  public  schools,  the  penny  lunches 
for  underfed  children  and  the  clynics  for  defective, 
backward  or  exceptional  children,  the  campaigns 
against  typhoid  fever  and  tuberculosis,  the  state  and 
city  health  boards,  the  establishment  of  public  parks, 
recreation  grounds,  play-grounds,  public  baths,  &c.,  the 
passage  of  milk,  meat,  food  and  child  labor  laws,  the 
enactments  providing  for  conveniences  in  workshops 
and  office,  holidays,  hours  of  labor,  regulation  of  dan- 
gerous occupations,  &c.,  &c.  It  has  almost  come  to  pass 
in  these  days,  with  our  various  laws,  that  society  will 
demand  for  every  premature  death,  a coroner’s  inquest, 
and  that  good  health  will  be  established,  and  death  pro- 
hibited, by  law. 

In  education,  even  greater  strides  have  been  made, 
— our  public  schools,  from  the  kindergarden  up,  have 
been  vastly  improved  and  enlarged,  our  state  colleges 
and  universities  have  greatly  increased,  our  compul- 


13 


sory  education  laws  force  education  on  the  child,  the 
vast  increase  of  our  libraries,  periodicals,  newspapers, 
night  schools,  etc.,  point  out  the  advances;  and  quite 
important  to  be  considered  is  that  numerous  holidays 
and  half-holidays  are  provided,  so  that  leisure  is  given 
to  the  working  man  and  woman  to  improve  their  minds 
if  they  so  desire. 

The  new  penology — so-called — is  founded  upon  the 
system  of  preventing,  rather  than  punishing,  crime. 
The  name  alone  spells  progress. 

May  it  not  come  to  pass  that  these  forward  move- 
ments will  be  increased  in  the  next  generation  in 
geometrical  progression  ? 

Now,  most  important  of  all,  what  are  we  doing,  to 
get  ready  for  the  change?  What  is  our  duty?  Shall 
we  pursue  the  same  policy  that  our  continent  conquerors 
pursued,  of  neglect  of  foresight  and  public  obligation, 
or  shall  we  take  time  from  our  private  business  to  give 
to  our  public  business, — that  business  which  is  so  preg- 
nant with  good  or  ill  for  posterity.  What  is  the  obliga- 
tion which  every  citizen  owes  to  his  city,  his  state,  and 
his  nation?  Has  he  the  right  to  sell  himself  to  his  self- 
seeking  selfishness,  and  pass  politely  by  the  call  to  pub- 
lic service?  And  by  public  service  I do  not  mean  office; 
I mean  the  ordinary  duties  of  the  citizen. 

It  is  here  that  I would  wish  the  power  to  obtain  and 
hold  your  attention,  the  attention  of  each  one  of  you, — 
you  graduates  and  you  students  of  this  great  institu- 
tion of  learning.  Imbued  with  the  high  ideals  that  are 
here  taught,  many  of  you  have  gone  forth,  and  many 
more  will  go  out  from  these  environments,  into  the 
walks  of  life,  awaiting  the  opportunity,  awaiting  the 


14 


time  and  the  place,  to  actively  engage  in  public  service. 
There  is  no  need  to  wait.  The  opportunity  is  now, 
every  day, — the  time,  every  hour.  You  must  work  in 
the  public  interest,  to  create  public  sentiment,  to  add 
wisdom  to  the  popular  voice,  to  correct  error,  to  propa- 
gate truth,  to  make  one’s  self  felt  as  a force,  however 
small  or  however  great,  in  this  great  movement  which 
is  now  on.  There  are  a thousand  ways, — aye,  a thou- 
sand thousand  ways, — to  do  this,  and  those  who  have 
special  advantages,  or  special  ability,  have  special  obli- 
gations to  do  their  part. 

Gentlemen,  I ask  you  to  consider  the  work  ahead, 
cut  out  for  every  man  of  public  spirit,  in  order  that 
there  may  grow  up  in  this  country  a citizenship,  that 
will  be  competent  to  deal  with  the  questions  which  the 
evidences  of  the  times  indicate  will  be  imposed  upon 
government.  If  the  government  is  to  be  directly  con- 
trolled by  the  people,  and  if  industry  is  to  be  con- 
trolled by  the  government,  and  the  social  condition  of 
the  people  likewise  so  controlled,  then  the  people  will 
be  called  upon  to  directly  control  industry  and  trade, 
and  provide  for  the  social  status  of  the  people. 

Over  ten  years  ago  I had  occasion  to  refer,  in  a 
public  address,  to  the  conditions  affecting  the  trade 
and  commerce  of  that  day,  as  compared  with  conditions 
of  former  years.  It  seems  to  me  appropriate,  to  repeat 
the  same  here,  although  vaster  enterprises  have  been 
since  undertaken  than  those  to  which  I at  that  time  re- 
ferred. 

“The  capital  employed  in  the  enterprises  of  today 
may  seem  large  when  compared  with  the  amount  thus 
employed  at  one  time,  but  it  is  no  larger  in  propor- 
tion than  are  the  transactions  of  this  age  compared 
with  those  of  former  ages.  Once  all  trade  was  circum- 


15 


scribed,  confined  within  small  territorial  areas,  due  to 
lack  of  facilities  for  transportation  and  communication. 
The  market  places  of  cities  and  towns  in  the  past  were 
the  sole  marts  sometimes  of  whole  counties,  or  even 
larger  districts.  Today  what  is  the  situation?  The 
price  of  a loaf  of  bread  in  Chicago  is  affected  by 
a rumor  of  war  in  Asia,  and  the  world’s  exchange  goes 
up  or  down  in  accordance  with  the  result  of  negotia- 
tions for  a loan  in  Japan.  Everything  of  importance  oc- 
curring in  the  most  remote  portions  of  the  world  affects 
trade  for  good  or  evil  in  every  other  portion.  Rumors 
of  war  or  peace,  the  discovery  of  mineral  deposits,  a new 
and  useful  invention  in  any  part  of  the  world,  reacts 
upon  every  other  part.  The  whole  world  is  every  man’s 
market.  Transactions  involving  sums  equal  to  a king’s 
ransom  are  now  of  almost  daily  occurrence,  and  mil- 
lions are  now  exchanged  where  hundreds  once  sufficed. 
Contracts  for  the  supply  of  material  involving  tens  of 
millions  of  dollars  are  not  infrequent.  The  amount  of 
capital  employed  in  any  enterprise  signifies  nothing 
except  the  magnitude  of  our  dealings.  These  enormous 
amounts  are  not  limited  to  companies  formed  by  con- 
solidation ; they  are  likewise  employed  in  business  enter- 
prise increased  from  small  beginnings,  by  natural  ac- 
cretions, to  keep  step  with  the  industrial  progress  and 
demands  of  the  time. 

The  unification  of  the  world  into  a single  market 
place  has  come  to  pass  through  no  human  design,  but 
as  the  natural  result  of  improved  facilities  in  trans- 
portation and  communication.  A man  today  in  any 
part  of  the  world  may  be  in  daily  touch  with  his  busi 
ness,  however  remote;  and  with  the  markets  in  every 
other  portion  of  the  globe.  These  changed  conditions 
have  caused  like  changes  in  methods  of  business.  Trade 
and  commerce  never  lag  behind  the  train  of  progress 


16 


and  improvement ; they  keep  apace,  sometimes  they  are 
in  the  van.  He  would  indeed  be  a wise  prophet  who 
could  now  foretell  whither  we  are  tending.  No  mortal 
eye  can  at  one  glance  foresee  the  complex  markets  of 
the  world.  No  human  mind  can  at  any  instant  compre- 
hend the  trade  conditions  of  the  globe.  Such  sight  and 
such  comprehension  are  imperative  if  legislation  touch- 
ing the  mainsprings  of  trade  is  to  be  intelligently 
framed.  We  are  in  the  presence  of  stupendous  forces, 
set  in  motion  by  unseen  power.” 

Direct  control  of  government  by  the  people,  and, 
through  it,  of  industry  and  of  the  social  condition  of 
the  individual,  will  require  in  the  majority  of  its  citi- 
zenship an  intelligence  competent  to  deal  with  not  only 
the  questions  of  trade  and  commerce,  to  which  I have 
just  referred,  but  also  with  equally  as  complex  and 
difficult  problems  affecting  the  social  relations  of  the 
people, — problems  today  on  which  there  is  every  shade 
and  difference  of  opinion. 

Are  we  moving  towards  such  an  ideal  citizenship? 
If  so,  how  long  will  it  take  before  it  is  realized,  if  not, 
how  long  will  it  take  to  begin  such  movement? 

Whether  or  not  this  insurgent  movement  should 
proceed  to  its  ultimate  logical  conclusion,  or  be  sus- 
pended at  some  intermediate  point  by  a conservative, 
sincere  and  honest  public  sentiment, — at  some  inter- 
mediate point,  where  the  benefits  may  be  secured  with- 
out too  great  risk  from  the  complete  democratization 
of  government,  and  the  socialization  of  industry — must 
be  determined  by  the  citizen  of  the  future.  That  there 
is  such  risk  from  such  control  must  be  apparent  to 
every  man  who  considers  the  class  of  citizenship  that 
is  absolutely  imperative  in  a government  completely 


17 


democratized  as  that  to  which  the  present  insurgent 
movement  would  logically  lead.  These  considerations 
must  appeal  to  every  man  here  present.  It  must 
make  every  public-spirited  citizen  resolve  to  do  his 
part,  great  or  small,  and  to  begin  this  part  in  his 
immediate  environment,  as  citizen,  as  voter,  as  one 
interested  in  public  affairs,  and  as  one  determined 
to  do  his  full  duty  to  city,  state  and  nation.  That 
it  is  worth  while,  I can  assure  you.  There  is  a 
satisfaction  in  such  work.  There  is  a reward  for  this 
work  in  an  approving  conscience  that  nothing  can  take 
away  from  you.  You  may,  many  of  you,  climb  high 
upon  the  ladder  of  your  profession;  you  may  build  up 
a fortune  in  industry ; you  may  write  your  name  among 
the  immortals  on  the  tablets  of  fame;  but  I believe  that 
none  of  these  will  give  to  you  so  keen  a sense  of  duty 
done,  and  credit  earned,  as  to  know  that  you  have  con- 
tributed through  your  efforts  to  the  good  and  welfare 
of  your  community,  that  you  have  made  your  city  a 
better  place  in  which  to  live,  that  you  have  helped  to 
make  the  individual  citizen  of  this  democracy  better 
fitted  for  democracy,  that  the  democracy  itself  has  been 
made  better  fitted  to  deal  with  the  great  questions 
which  must  be  presented  for  its  decision  in  the  next 
few  years,  questions  that  will  make  so  much  for  the 
good  or  the  ill  of  the  countless  millions  yet  unborn. 
There  is  today  no  duty  so  imperative,  no  obligation  so 
great,  as  the  duty  and  obligation  of  citizenship. 


18 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLIN0I8  — URBANA 


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